In energy absorbing motor vehicle steering columns such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,599, issued July 16, 1968 and assigned to the assignee of this invention, a collapse stroke of the column is characterized by telescopic collapse or plunging of a tubular upper mast jacket over a tubular lower mast jacket. Collapse of the upper mast jacket is resisted by a plurality of hard steel spheres having an interference press fit in an annulus defined where the upper and lower mast jackets overlap. When the forces urging collapse exceed a magnitude corresponding to the strain limit of the material from which the mast jackets are made, collapse commences and the spheres effect energy absorption by permanently cold forming or plowing tracks in the mast jackets. The spheres are seated in ball sockets in a tubular plastic ball sleeve which maintains the relative positions of the spheres during a collapse stroke of the column and which affords a convenient platform for handling the spheres prior to installation on the steering column. Commonly, plastic ball sleeve assemblies are made by injection molding nylon or some other polymeric material in a tubular cavity to form a sleeve with ball sockets therein and then inserting the spheres in the ball sockets. Core pins of the molding apparatus form the ball sockets and must be mechanically withdrawn from the sleeve before the latter can be extracted from the mold. A method according to this invention of making a plastic ball sleeve assembly for an energy absorbing motor vehicle steering column is an improvement relative to the aforesaid injection molding method.